Ogre Snotlings

Ogre Snotlings Overview:

Snotlings have recently been introduced to Blood Bowl after going missing since before the third edition rules back in 1994. At first glance they may appear to be rather worthless players to have on your Blood Bowl Team. They are the weakest players in the game and can get beaten up by even Halflings. They also have the lowest armour so when they are knocked over they don’t tend to get up again. Their small size also means that they can’t make opposing dodges harder as their Tackle Zone doesn’t exert a minus one to the dodge roll. They are also fairly slow so can get out manoeuvred. So why would you want Snotlings?

The advantages the Snotlings have are primarily that they are very cheap. They are in fact the cheapest players in the game. While their Tackle Zones don’t make dodges harder, they do still force dodges which can often be enough, especially against the lower agility sides. Their small size also means that they ignore Tackle Zones when dodging and also get an extra plus one when dodging. This means that they can reliably move where they please, especially as they also come with Dodge. Having Dodge also makes them a bit harder to knock down, especially of the opposing player doesn’t have Block, despite the fact most players will get three dice against them.

Snotlings also come with Side Step making them even harder to pin down and more useful for marking players. It helps negate their slowness somewhat and may also save them from some Blocks if you can then Side Step somewhere that will cause problems. Not all of their stats are bad though, they have AG3 meaning that you can use them to handle the ball if you don’t want your lower agility Ogres to do so.

Lastly they also come with Right Stuff, so they can be thrown by the Ogres on the team. This can be used either for going for touchdowns, or cause they are rather cheap and expendable, aim them at opposing players. Their low price also means they are an excellent player to foul with. A low 20k player getting sent off in exchange for any other player may be a useful trade. If that happens to be a +ST Wardancer then even better!

Developing Snotlings comes with some issues though, even getting a single skill on them will double their team value. With only agility access they may also rely on getting doubles to get an effective choice after already getting skills. This probably means that if they don’t get any skills with a double roll after the first two, then you are likely better off firing them. With their propensity to get injured and killed, you may not get many that live that long anyway. Planning for long term development isn’t really worth while.

General Ogre Snotling:

This is how most of your Snotlings will probably develop, though many won’t even make it to one skill let alone two! Diving Tackle first is probably the most useful agility skill you can take after Side Step. Seeing as you already have the most useful and they combo really really well together it makes a great first choice. It also helps to negate the Titchy factor and creates harder dodges that Snotlings don’t usually force. Jump Up will help make up for their slow movement and is also worth having to get your full movement range after being thrown. That is if they are still on the pitch after being knocked over for what ever reason. Sure Feet is the other useful utility skill to take, being able to do go for its in a more liberal manner will help against the slowness factor.

For doubles I would take Block or Wrestle, mostly to make it harder to knock them over, they are usually going to have a hard time getting an even block, let alone one in their favour. If you get these then man marking players can be considered, though isn’t perhaps the wisest ploy even with one of these two skills. For stat increases strength increases their value by a lot and still only makes them weaker than nearly every other player, it isn’t worth it. While an agility increase doesn’t help with dodges most the time (you already dodge on a 2+ most the time) the ball handling abilities and help on landing rolls is worth having. Extra movement is also helpful, though may turn them more into a scoring player.

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17 Responses to Ogre Snotlings

You should also consider taking Guard on a doubles roll for a Snotling. With Stunty, Titchy and Dodge they can go virtually anywhere. I had Guard on one of my Snotlings and it really paid off – that is of course until he got smashed to pieces…

Thanks for bringing that up, I forgot to talk about Guard, I really should take more notes before writing them up!

The reason I don’t suggest it is that you will eventually likely have six Ogres on the team who are ST5. They don’t really need the extra help from Guard, also they only have access to strength skills so getting them Guard is not only easy but may also be the best option after getting perhaps a couple of others.

There are also lots of other very handy skills to take on Snotlings instead of Guard. Block or Wrestle will just keep them on the pitch that much longer, especially as after a few games pretty much every other team will have Block players to pick on them with. Then there is also the fact that Guard comes in handy when they are in Tackle Zones. This increases the likelihood that they are going to get hit and as such they probably won’t live that long. That being said while they are alive is can be very useful especially as you can get it where you want most the time and Side Step lets you keep it in as useful a position as possible. The caveat though is the life expectancy of a Snotling that can end up taking more hits than you ideally are looking to suffer.

I put Multiple Block on one of my Ogres and then used the Guard Snotling to get two dice on both blocks. That Ogre also has Grab so most of the time I was able to get that supporting Snotling free again. But recently that Snotling got blitzed and died. These little buggers are just to fragile to really count on them.

Î just started playing an Ogre team. I skilled some snotlings diving tackle but the other teams just don’t bother to dodge, they just block the snotlings. So how am i supposed to use it? You seem to get good use of it.

It isn’t much surprise that opponents will do that due to the low strength of Snotlings. Rather than actively marking them like you would with a normal player, you need to position the Snotlings where they are likely to want to move. As they all have Side Step and they can then only blitz one Snotling you can make a web of Diving Tackle tackle zones for them to get through.

You can sometimes mark players though, Snotlings have Dodge which makes them a bit harder to knock over, if an opposing player doesn’t have Block or Wrestle, then you may have more success. I still don’t think it is that worthwhile as most players get three dice blocks against Snotlings and even if they do get a both down with neither of you having Block, a Snotlings breaks very easily.

I find the snotlings very important, but they don’t really need much in the way of skills. Which is fortunate because they won’t get much in the way I play.

I play in a random match environment, it is pretty bash heavy and there seems to be a bit of Pile On/Mighty Blow/Claw. Sneaky Git was the first skill I picked up on a dual MVP snot. The second MVP completion snot got Surefoot because I find it useful to have a snot that can get a little more reach.

I focus really heavily on getting the ball to an Ogre though, because Snotlings are too easy to get the ball away from. They tend to not get skills but they are still very important as they are for providing screens and forcing dodge rolls to burn rerolls on risky plays.

Just always try to keep them out of tackle zones at the end of your turn. Any snotlings that are in tackle zones are likely snotlings that are going to fall down.

Last bit of advice. Remember that they can block too. If you have someone marking the ball that your snots are marking, you can block them off of it with the assists from the other snotlings and have your Ogre come up and pick up the ball, rather than vice versa. Leaves you in a much stronger position.

Coach, what do You think of Dauntless as a double on Snotlings? If I was determined to make a blitzing Snotling (and optimistic about getting two doubles on him), would You recommend taking Wrestle or Dauntless as a first one?

I wouldn’t bother with Dauntless, it doesn’t help at all when the other team can usually just hit you back with three dice. If you also don’t have Wrestle or Block then your Snotling won’t last long on the pitch anyway which wastes the skill.

For the extra value it adds to your Snotling, it isn’t worth the benefits that having Dauntless will give. It also isn’t a guaranteed success that it will work so you may also end up doing three dice blocks in the oppositions favour! Just moving a Diving Tackle Snotling next to the ball carrier seems like a better strategy and is less team value. Of course if you think it will be more fun to go that route then by all means give it a go.

After playing quite a lot with Ogre teams, I’d suggest taking Sure Feet as a first skill on most, if not all the Snotlings (except on doubles, of course). It helps with the teams’ main weak point, which is MV5 on all players. Diving Tackle is great (and I would definitely take it as a second skill, except for the main scoring Snotling who should get Catch/Diving Catch or Sprint), but useless if Your Snotlings can’t get to the right position to use it. Also, Snotlings are great for providing assists for the much neeeded 3-dice Ogre blocks and Sure Feet helps them get to the right place for that. Those two additional squares of movement mean 40% more ground covered in one turn.

It also helps a lot with scoring, both when caging with last-minute Snotling dash to the endzone and TTM, which offers very limited control of where Your Snotling will land.

What I’m trying to say is that every Ogre coach will find him/herself doing a lot of GFIs and wasting re-rolls on them – and You need those re-rolls for the unreliable Ogre blocking! What if You have already used the re-roll that turn? That means no more GFIs (unless You feel adventurous, that is). Sure Feet helps conserve the re-rolls, while making Your team much more mobile. Just use the GFIs carefully, one square at a time, and only when they’re really needed.

I made a “reciever/runner” snotling, and a passing one. I got doubles on my first two snotling level-ups, and built them from there.
The level 3 “passer” had pass, +1 agility, and sure feet; the sure feet helped him get to the ball from the kick-off, and proved very useful to put in a last minute roadblock on a few occasions. I gave the “runner/reciever” sprint, catch, nerves of steel and diving catch. This plan B worked best against bashier opposition, particularly dwarves, as I could drift my reciever in deep, and slip the ball out of my ogre cage to the passer if things got hairy. One thing to say if one was to try to emulate rikkitikki or bert would be to make extra effort to keep them out of harm. All in all, a good plan B, and a pair of builds I thought I’d mention.

I think snots are best left undeveloped. Never ever take attribute bonuses- the cost more than the snotling. Here are the three exceptions to that rule.
1. One any double roll, take Leader. Ogre rerolls are expensive. If you somehow end up with 6 rerolls, you wont regret it. Ogres are about the only team besides Vampires that could feasibly use 6.
2. Give Sneaky Git to the first snot (that doesnt roll a double). If you ABSOLUTELY MUST keep all your level 2 snotlings, give them this. Believe me, there is nothing more satisfying than taking out a clawed chaos warrior with a sneaky git snotling.
3. If you roll a double on your Sneaky Git, give it Dirty Player. Devastating 70k fouler, but unlikely to last more than two matches.
Ogre teams are barely competetive. Skilled up snots (or worse snots with attribute bonuses) raise you TV to uncompetetive levels. For this reason, don’t make your snotlings scorers- you want those SPP going to the ogres.

An ammendment- the other skill that has awesome potential (but I haven’t used it with Ogres myself) is Hail Mary Pass. Do not use this against high agility teams- they will blitz the Hailer before you are prepared to throw. The play I would suggest is simple- driving your ogres up one side of the pitch, until you have a nice cage in the corner, four squares out from the enemy Endzone. Tie up opponents with snots. Send the hail mary pass into the ogre cage, knowing full well the bounce will be 3 squares. At very worst it ends up beside an ogre, while at best an ogre catches it on the bounce.
I have tried this play with Dwarves and it works very well.

I like a dauntless and a guard snot on defense. nasty combo. I will blitz a dauntless into a cage though. I have went 3 red into a cage for a triple pow before. That is the fun of ogres, doing the things you aren’t supposed to do.

Leader can be good but you have to keep track of him. after you use the roll in the second half, foul with him every chance you get.

Diving Tackle is the only great skill. two DT next to eachother marking the ball is always good.

Sneaky Git. You doubled your TV and if the foul works, he is gone anyhow.